GOUGE: The idea that the USGA's rule changed allowing increased adjustability of clubs might somehow fundamentally change the way the industry develops and markets golf clubs is no idle pursuit. It's already big news, as evidenced by this report from Golf DIgest's Max Adler, associate editor for equipment. Let us know your thoughts on how much you're excited by club adjustability, and whether it will be the next big thing in golf.
Adler writes:
There are Seven Heavenly Virtues and Seven Deadly Sins, so it was only fitting that the first ever Club Adjustability Symposium, an assembly gathered at this year’s PGA Show in Orlando to forecast the glory and/or doom of the USGA’s recent rule relaxing, would have seven panelists to lead the discussion. The seven industry experts with headset microphones were Dick Rugge, Technical Director to the USGA, John K. Solheim, Vice President of Engineering at Ping, Jeff Colton, Senior Vice President of Research & Development at Callaway, John Hoeflich, Senior Vice President of Nickent, Graeme Horwood, Vice President of Engineering and R&D at True Temper Sports, Ken Morton Sr., owner of the retailing giant Haggin Oaks Golf Complex in Sacramento, and Ed Mitchell, CEO of Mitchell Golf which makes club repair and measuring devices.
Every seat was taken and people stood in rows six deep behind the crowd control ropes. The lights were dimmed and the word that seemed to be sneaking its way into roughly half of Golf Channel chief equipment correspondent and symposium moderator Adam Barr’s introductory sentences was "imagination." As in, within what stretches of imagination will designers make new clubs, only time will tell.
Before the discussion got underway, Dick Rugge made it clear that better fitting equipment is good for all golfers and for golf, and that in no way is the USGA concerned that adjustable golf clubs pose a threat to the sanctity of the game. Just as on the professional tours, where players regularly enjoy equipment adjustments to meet changing conditions or optimize their swings, skill remains supreme.
John K. Solheim voiced the first skepticism. "It (club adjustability) could put greater doubt in the golfer’s mind." The average golfer’s mind is already clouded enough with technique insecurities, the clear message. Solheim went on to assert Ping was very confident with its fitting system, and so that leaving fitting decisions up to the consumer might not be in his or her best interest.
Graeme Horwood grinned when asked by an audience member if he thought there was any possibility of a 'universal' shaft-head attachment system developing in the future, as this is of major concern to retailers who foresee an inventory nightmare. At the Show, several leading OEM’s like Callaway, TaylorMade, and Nickent all introduced systems that were exclusive. Horwood answered no, but that he hoped shaft-makers at least would stick to a consistent tip diameter for the sake of simplicity.
One audience member reminded the crowd that fitting could potentially apply to never before considered aspects of the club. For example, perhaps a future technology would allow a player to handily switch his set to cord grips on a rainy day and then back to softer grips on a sunny day.
The highlight of audience interaction no doubt came from Tom Wishon, whose front row seat evidenced that the component clubmaker arrived early, and whose lengthy, well-organized address sounded like it had been simmering in his chest for quite some time. Wishon expressed doubt regarding the legitimacy of adjustable clubs competently taking the place of traditional club-fitting methods. "If this is going to work," Wishon warned, "every aspect of the club needs to be adjustable at the same time. If you insert a shaft with a different gram weight, the weight of the head needs to be adjustable to preserve the overall swing weight."
Jeff Colton was more enthusiastic about the possibilities. "I see this ruling as a tremendous benefit," he said. "It allows the golfer to optimize equipment every time he sets foot on the course. The driver is no longer a static piece of equipment."
The symposium discourse shifted from present technical issues to futuristic, more fanciful possibilities, but in the end came full circle to a simple question: does a $1000 driver help grow the game? (TaylorMade’s r7 CGB Max Limited will be sold as a clubhead with three shafts for that price.) The audience member who proposed the question, noted golf equipment free-lance writer Ted Johnson, likened the industry to a "...a trawler that fishes the same luxury consumer waters over and over."
Early adopters generally pay a premium, but if adjustable clubs gain in popularity the volume of their production will likely drop the price down to the middle of the market, according to Jeff Colton.
Dick Rugge answered that expense and pace of play are the main problems hurting golf’s participation. "Adjustability won’t affect people getting into the game."
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